Glasgow Airport enjoys a busy July for passengers

The busiest July was had in six years at Glasgow Airport, handling more than 840,000 passengers last month as the city hosted the Commonwealth Games. Rival Edinburgh Airport meanwhile claimed a fresh monthly record for a Scottish airport as its July passenger numbers topped 1.1 million.

It highlighted its expectation that the start of operations at Glasgow by budget airline Ryanair in October would add more than 850,000 passengers per year, returning the airport to pre-recession levels. Ryanair will fly to destinations including Stansted and Dublin from Glasgow.

Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said “To have recorded our busiest July in six years was extremely pleasing but it was a memorable month for so many reasons. From a route development perspective, we made a number of significant announcements, none more so than the news Ryanair will join us in October.”

Airline Jet2 yesterday outlined plans to expand its operations at Glasgow, with the introduction of flights from the airport to Prague in the Czech Republic, and services to Antalya in Turkey, Larnaca in Cyprus and Malta. Back in summer 2004, Glasgow became the first airport in Scotland to handle more than one million passengers in a month

McMillan added, “The highlight, however, was serving as the gateway to the Commonwealth Games, which were a resounding success. It has always been the case that when the city does well, the airport does well and with events such as the World Pipe Band Championships, the Ryder Cup and MTV European Music Awards all still to come, both the city and the airport have much to look forward to.”